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war on two fronts: Steven Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan" and Terrence Malick's "The Thin Red Line"

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Date Issued:
2001
Summary:
In 1998 Saving Private Ryan and The Thin Red Line debuted in theatres and critics in the popular press were quick to discuss the revival of the World War Two film and to classify both films within this genre. Through an examination of genre, art cinema, the styles of the Steven Spielberg and Terrence Malick, and a close textual analysis of both films, this thesis argues that Saving Private Ryan, although updating generic conventions of violence through its opening segment, quickly turns traditional in its depiction of plot, character, masculinity, and nation. The Thin Red Line, however, combines conventions of the war film with elements of art cinema, producing a film that popular critics often labeled in an inadequate or incomplete manner, creating inappropriate generic expectations among viewers.
Title: A war on two fronts: Steven Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan" and Terrence Malick's "The Thin Red Line".
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Name(s): Jordan, Tibe Patrick.
Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor
Budd, Michael N., Thesis advisor
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Issuance: monographic
Date Issued: 2001
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 189 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: In 1998 Saving Private Ryan and The Thin Red Line debuted in theatres and critics in the popular press were quick to discuss the revival of the World War Two film and to classify both films within this genre. Through an examination of genre, art cinema, the styles of the Steven Spielberg and Terrence Malick, and a close textual analysis of both films, this thesis argues that Saving Private Ryan, although updating generic conventions of violence through its opening segment, quickly turns traditional in its depiction of plot, character, masculinity, and nation. The Thin Red Line, however, combines conventions of the war film with elements of art cinema, producing a film that popular critics often labeled in an inadequate or incomplete manner, creating inappropriate generic expectations among viewers.
Identifier: 9780493218328 (isbn), 12793 (digitool), FADT12793 (IID), fau:9669 (fedora)
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2001.
Subject(s): Saving Private Ryan (Motion picture)
Thin red line (Motion picture)
World War, 1939-1945--Motion pictures and the war
Spielberg, Steven,--1946---Criticism and interpretation
Malick, Terrence,--1945---Criticism and interpretation
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12793
Sublocation: Digital Library
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author, with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.